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China Tries A Little Harder To Convince North Korea To Denuclearize, But Will It Work?

President Trump has called upon North Korea’s largest trading partner, China, to do more to help convince Kim Jong-Un to denuclearize. Beijing made a bit of an effort in the beginning by refusing to buy coal from the Hermit Kingdom. However, there are still Chinese companies doing regular business with North Korea in the face of UN sanctions.

The President, of course, is hoping for a peaceful solution to the problem and has relied heavily on China. Just last week he tweeted: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”

Following the President’s tweet, Beijing’s largest state-owned energy company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), has stopped the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel to North Korea.

CNPC appears to have cut off the fuel shipment out of concern that North Korea could no longer pay for the fuel.

“It’s no longer worth the risks,” said a source who also described the move as a business decision.

As part of President Donald Trump’s plan to deal with the totalitarian state of North Korea, he has been pressuring China to do more to rein them in. The president hasn’t appeared pleased with China’s efforts so far, tweeting last week, “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”

Although its motivations are not entirely clear, it appears China is now doing more to stifle the North Korean regime. China’s largest state-owned energy company, China National Petroleum Corp, has stopped fuel sales (mainly gasoline and diesel) to North Korea, according to an exclusive report from Reuters.